Biography:Louis Harold Gray

From HandWiki
Louis Harold Gray
LH Gray (left) and J Boag supervising construction of the Gray Laboratory at Mount Vernon Hospital in north London.
Born(1905-11-10)10 November 1905
Richmond upon Thames, England
Died9 July 1965(1965-07-09) (aged 59)
Northwood, London[1]
Education
  • The Latymer School
  • Christ's Hospital
  • Trinity College, Cambridge
Known forBragg–Gray cavity theory
Gray (unit)
Spouse(s)Frieda Marjorie Picot
Awards
  • Roentgen Award
  • Sylvanus Thompson Medal
  • Barclay Medal
  • Katherine Berkan Judd Award
  • Bertner Foundation Award
  • Fellow of the Royal Society[2]
Scientific career
Institutions
  • Cavendish Laboratory[3]
  • Fellow of Trinity College
  • Medical Research Council's Radiotherapeutic Research Unit at Hammersmith Hospital[4]
Thesis (1930)
Doctoral advisorJames Chadwick[2]
Author abbrev. (botany)

Louis Harold Gray FRS (10 November 1905 – 9 July 1965) was an English physicist who worked mainly on the effects of radiation on biological systems. He was one of the earliest contributors of the field of radiobiology.[6] Amongst many other achievements, he defined a unit of radiation dosage (absorbed dose) which was later named after him as an SI unit, the gray.[7][8]

Early life

Gray was born as an only child on 10 November 1905 to parents Harry and Amy Gray. His father worked at a post office.[9]

Career

  • 1933 – Hospital physicist at Mount Vernon Hospital, London
  • 1936 – Developed the Bragg–Gray equation, the basis for the cavity ionization method of measuring gamma-ray energy absorption by materials[10][11]
  • 1937 – Built an early neutron generator at Mount Vernon Hospital[12]
  • 1938 – Studied biological effects of neutrons using the generator
  • 1940 – Developed concept of RBE (Relative Biological Effectiveness) of doses of neutrons
  • 1952 – Initiated research into cells in hypoxic tumors and hyperbaric oxygen
  • 1953 – Oliver Scott established the British Empire Cancer Campaign Research Unit in Radiobiology[13] at Mount Vernon Hospital with Hal Gray as director which in 1970 became the Cancer Research Campaign's Gray Laboratory and then (in 2001) the Gray Cancer Institute.
  • 1953–1960 – Under Gray's direction, Jack W. Boag developed pulse radiolysis[14]
  • 1962 – Ed Hart, of Argonne National Laboratory, and Jack Boag[15] discovered the hydrated electron using pulse radiolysis at the Gray Laboratory – this discovery initiated a new direction of research that is still very active today and is vital for understanding the effects of radiation on biological tissue, for instance in cancer treatment.

References

  1. ↑ "LH Gray Memorial Trust: About L.H. Gray". http://www.lhgraytrust.org/lhgraybiography.html. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Loutit, J. F.; Scott, O. C. A. (1966). "Louis Harold Gray 1905-1965". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 12 (2): 195–217. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1966.0009. Bibcode: 1966PMB....11..329.. 
  3. ↑ Rogers, J. D. (2013). The neutron’s discovery - 80 years on. Physics Procedia, 43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phpro.2013.03.001
  4. ↑ Alma Howard (1965) Louis Harold Gray, International Journal of Radiation Biology and Related Studies in Physics, Chemistry and Medicine, 9:5, 509-511, DOI: 10.1080/09553006514550571
  5. ↑ IPNI,  L.H.Gray, http://www.ipni.org/ipni/advAuthorSearch.do?find_abbreviation=L.H.Gray 
  6. ↑ Sekiya, Masaru; Yamasaki, Michio (2017). "Louis Harold Gray (November 10, 1905–July 9, 1965): a pioneer in radiobiology". Radiol Phys Technol 10 (1): 2–7. doi:10.1007/s12194-016-0379-9. PMID 27714568. 
  7. ↑ Louis Harold Gray F.R.S. - a chronology, CRUK/MRC Oxford Institute, 29 June 2000, http://www.rob.ox.ac.uk/aboutus/history/History_gray/chronology, retrieved 2014-04-04 
  8. ↑ Slipman, Curtis W.; Chou, Larry H.; Derby, Richard; Simeone, Frederick A.; Mayer, Tom G. (2008), Interventional spine: an algorithmic approach, Elsevier Health Sciences, p. 230–231, ISBN 978-0-7216-2872-1 
  9. ↑ Sekiya, Masaru; Yamasaki, Michio (1 March 2017). "Louis Harold Gray (November 10, 1905–July 9, 1965): a pioneer in radiobiology" (in en). Radiological Physics and Technology 10 (1): 2–7. doi:10.1007/s12194-016-0379-9. PMID 27714568. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12194-016-0379-9. Retrieved 31 August 2023. 
  10. ↑ Gray, Louis Harold (1936). "An ionization method for the absolute measurement of gamma-ray energy". Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 156 (889): 578–596. doi:10.1098/rspa.1936.0169. Bibcode: 1936RSPSA.156..578G. 
  11. ↑ Wynchank, S. (2017). Travel. In: Louis Harold Gray . Springer Biographies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43397-4_9
  12. ↑ Alma, Howard (1965). "Louis Harold Gray". International Journal of Radiation Biology and Related Studies in Physics, Chemistry and Medicine 9 (5): 509–511. doi:10.1080/09553006514550571. PMID 5319982. 
  13. ↑ Wynchank, S. (2017). Louis Harold Gray . Springer Biographies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43397-4_14
  14. ↑ Hill, Kit (2007-03-26). "Obituary: Jack Boag" (in en). http://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/mar/26/cancercare.health. 
  15. ↑ Boag, J. W.; Hart, E. J. (1963). "Absorption spectra in irradiated water and some solutions: Absorption spectra of 'hydrated'electron.". Nature 197 (4862): 45–47. doi:10.1038/197045a0. Bibcode: 1963Natur.197...45B. https://www.nature.com/articles/197045a0.